Sami Michael, Iraqi-born and award-winning Israeli author and activist, dies at 97

By MELANIE LIDMAN
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Sami Michael, an award-winning and Iraqi-born Israeli author who was known for writing poignantly about oppressed minorities and the challenges faced by Jews from Arab countries, has died. He was 97. The human rights organization he led for decades announced his death on Monday. His characters, who were often Arabic-speaking Jews like himself, opened a window into the particular pains and intricacies of Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, as well as his close relationships with Israeli Arabs in the mixed city of Haifa. He wrote more than 20 novels and children’s books, in addition to plays, essays, and cultural criticism. Some of his books were also adapted into movies.